Venice
by the pharoah
Summary: pot heads, an angry ocean, graffiti, skateboards, and four eccentric boys falling in love on the shores of Venice Beach. A real story of summer lovin'. Beach!fic. Axel/Roxas Sora/Riku


Author's Note: Wow! When I started this story, I definitely wasn't expecting it to take me so long to write it. This story was both my easiest and hardest to write at the same time. How that works? No idea. But it's finally done, and just in time for summer. The end of it at least. This can be a little reminder of the fun times summer brought us this year. I'm so happy to finally finish this idea I had a few months ago. So enjoy and review, puh-lease.

Here's a little playlist for each of the scenes/characters that I think fits them very well. Go ahead and take a listen to enhance the mood of the story! I do not own these songs, just used them for inspiration and fun.

Playlist: Roxas' theme, beginning: Lay Me Down by The Dirty Heads with Rome  
Sora/Riku theme, ocean and rock scenes: Island in the Sun by Weezer  
Axel's theme and end scene: Romeo by Sublime

...  
Venice  
by sweet pandamonium  
...

"Axel's live-changing advice; only one dollar."

It wasn't every day Roxas was promised advice in exchange for money, but then again, it wasn't every day that the blond-haired boy headed out to Venice beach, one of the most infamous beaches in the Los Angeles area. Full of sand, surf, and shops, Roxas had heard that everyone who visited Venice had a great story to tell afterwards. Whether it be strange people they met or strange items they bought, most weren't disappointed after a visit here.

So one sunny afternoon, Roxas had decided to drive on over to this beautiful place in sunny California just to see what all the hoopla was about. Parking wasn't cheap, and the drive here wasn't without traffic, but now that Roxas was here, he was starting to see what all the fuss was all about.

The blond had already took his board to the awesome mini skate park section of the beach, and now he was walking along the concrete, skating at a leisurely place to admire the shops and strange people. Roxas was surprised to find that there was even a two-headed turtle here, and would make a note to go visit it later.

But Venice wasn't without his weirdos, as he had been told there would be plenty, and it seemed one of them was talking to him at this very moment.

"No thanks," Roxas said with a quirked brow, and it was not hard to tell that the skateboarder was judging the lanky man before him without so much as a second thought.

"Hey come on," the man persisted, coming a few steps closer, causing the blond to shrink away, if not consciously, then by habit. "I'm not going to hurt you, damn, way to show some compassion." He spit on the floor before backpedaling, and offering Roxas a kind smile. Roxas noticed the way his sharp cheekbones were even sharper when he smiled. "I'm just trying to find some money for my next meal. All I'm asking for is a dollar, how 'bout it blondie?"

'Blondie' scaled the man up and down with his eyes. He started with his most prominent feature, being his crazy, spiky (and slightly dreaded) red hair, and his angled green eyes. If Roxas didn't know any better, he would have even went as far as to say the man was wearing eyeliner. He also had two upside-down triangle tattoos under his eyes. Face tattoos were not very common where Roxas came from. His eyes traveled lower to notice his style of dress: a tattered plaid shirt with a loose tank top underneath, dirty, baggy jeans and some sneakers.

Roxas could probably guess this guy's story just from one look. He was a pot smoker, or judging by how skinny he was, maybe he did speed. He was tired of living at home with his controlling dad and pushover mom and decided to hit the road with some of his druggie buddies. And after some aimless traveling they thought, 'hey why not live at Venice Beach? There's guys just like us there who get by, we could make it there too.' And here the guy was, begging for loose change with the promise of useless information. What a shining example of a middle-class white American giving away all opportunities he had in this world, Roxas mused.

"Hey kid! Drooling over my awesome chest piece is going to cost you an extra two bucks," the older man said, and when Roxas gave him a strange look, the other shrugged his shoulders. "Gotta make a living somehow." Now that Roxas had been snapped out of his thoughts he remembered the question at hand: money.

"I was just trying to remember if I had any cash," Roxas said as an excuse as he dug into his pocket, fishing around for a one dollar bill. With his luck, he'd probably end up pulling out a five, the guy wouldn't have change, and he'd be suckered into giving it o him for an empty promise or something. But he grabbed some of the green stuff out of his pocket and was relieved to see a one dollar bill in his hand. "This better be good," he added, hesitating to hand over the precious dollar, but the way the guy stared at the money like it was a god-damned Big Mac made him hand it over with a defeated sigh.

"What's your name anyway, huh? It isn't Ryan Sheckler, is it?" He let out a noise that sounded a bit like a witch cackle, and then proceeded to nearly hack up a lung. Roxas' early assumption of this guy being a major stoner were probably dead on.

"Funny," Roxas said dryly, "but no, my name's Roxas." He wished his name was Ryan Sheckler. That guy was a pro skateboarder, after all.

"Cute name for a cute kid," he said with a wink before pocketing his newly acquired dollar, "Alright, you ready to be amazed?"

"Dazzle me," Roxas paused then let his eyes scan the cardboard poster discarded to the side for some sort of name, and found one, "Axel."

"Axel!" A third voice called from the side, and with a aggravated groan, Axel turned his head to the side. A girl who was a bit on the short side walked up, and Roxas assumed she was this guy's girlfriend or something. Short cropped black hair hidden under a huge beanie. A tiny band-shirt with a picture of the pothead himself, Bob Marley, and 80's acid wash cut-off shorts. The red flannel she wore probably belonged to Axel, judging by how over-sized it was.

"What?!" He grunted, smiling in apology to Roxas before turning towards the shorter girl.

"Are you done yet?" She questioned as she prodded him roughly in the chest. She glanced over at Roxas a couple of times before giggling at Axel. "I've already got thirty bucks. Let's go get a 20 pack and some pizza," She ordered.

"So that's what my money is going to? Beer and pizza?" Roxas asked, rolling his eyes at the pair of grungy teens.

"Hey," Axel turned to Roxas, poking him in the nose with his pointer finger, "I told you that dollar was going towards my next meal didn't I?" Roxas quickly rubbed his nose. He had absolutely no idea where that finger had been, and he didn't want to know.

"Just get on with it." Roxas muttered as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Fine Axel, hurry up, we don't got all day," the short girl said before flashing us both a peace sign and sauntering off. If she hadn't been so friendly with Axel, Roxas may have asked for her number.

"Good, she's gone," Axel sighed in relief, and wiped the imaginary sweat from his forehead, "now … where were we?" He said as he slung his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Just give me what I paid for so I can get the hell out of here." His interest for the bum was definitely starting to dwindle. It shouldn't have taken him ten minutes to get some shoddy advice that he already knew was going to be lame.

"Alright, alright. Shit," he adjusted his plaid shirt before he scratched the stubble on his chin, and finally let out a long breath. "When life gives you lemons, adjust the letters to turn it into a smile."

A moment of silence passed between the two boys. The taller one had a smile on his face like he had just figured out the cure to cancer, while the younger one looked like the fanatic skeptic who believed cancer could only be solved by prayer, not medicines.

"...lemons doesn't spell smile," Roxas scoffed. He didn't have time for this, and thus threw down his skateboard, one checkered shoe already set on it, the other foot ready to propel himself away from this red-headed wacko.

"No wait! I said it wrong. Fuck!"

"Wow..." The blond pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled under his breath, "You are horrible at this. How the hell do you survive out here?"

"Well, it ain't easy kid. It's quite rough out here for a guy like me. How about helping me out by giving me another one of those pretty dollar bills?"

"Heh, bye Axel," Roxas threw him a peace sign in jest and boarded off, happy to get away. But as he boarded off, he could here Axel shout one more brilliant piece of advice at him.

"Remember if you see any lemons to smile at them … or some shit like that!"

* * *

"Muscle beach! Selphie told me it was a great place to meet guys."

"But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to work out."

"I know, I know. And we're going to do that too. They don't call it muscle beach for nothing," Kairi giggled, sashaying her little hips in her barely there blue bikini. If Sora had been attracted to soft skin, soft curves, and asses as bouncy as _that_, he would have definitely had had some sort of thing with Kairi by now. Maybe they'd maybe even be high school sweethearts. But sometime in the tenth grade, between the attractive guy on the football team, Seifer, taking a liking to him, and the senior that took him on his first motorcycle ride, Leon, he had realized he was kind of a guy-magnet. And he liked it.

"You really think I'll get some muscles?" Sora laughed as he flexed his noodle arms and made a 'grrrr!' face.

Smiling in sympathy, she shook her head. "Sora, if you can't get muscles at muscle beach, then you might just be a lost cause." His ego deflated just as he dropped his arms in defeat.

"Alright, well let's see."

He took in the scene. An area closed off by fences, probably to keep the stink in. Or to keep puny boys like him out. Sora had never seen men so ripped and tan before. Men with muscles upon muscles, huge arms, and tiny penises. Sora could practically smell the testosterone. He wasn't even sure he could use the equipment inside. Was he even strong enough? Muscle beach, a place just outside the boardwalk of Venice, definitely lived up to its name

"What are you scared of? Go on," Kairi encouraged before impatiently pushing her friend onto the step that led to weights, weights, and more weights.

"Whooo!"

"Grrr!"

"Ahh yeah!"

No longer were there sounds of serene ocean waves and flocks of seagulls—no not the band—crying as they scavenged for food. No, these were the cries of a scarier animal. This animal was much, much worse.

Sora wasn't one to judge, but these guys had a reputation. They were the most insecure of the animal kingdom, which was the sole reason for the overcompensation in physical appearance. Like a peacock, they were flashy for the sole purpose to attract mates. Unlike a peacock though, they weren't nearly as striking.

Sora was a different type of breed entirely. His goal wasn't to gain tree trunk arms and legs. He just wanted to be recognized as a man, not a prepubescent girl. Was that so much to ask? He just hoped stepping into 'Muscle Beach' wouldn't be a huge mistake.

"Kairi," Sora began as he stared warily at the grunting flock before him. "If I ever ask you to inject me in the butt cheek with steroids, do me a favor and stab me in the eye instead."

"Dually noted," Kairi took a deep breath before bravely heading up the stairs. Sore followed with chattering teeth. They walked through the men and iron equipment before heading into a room with a ceiling shaped like a big iron weight. The inside was covered by shade and had even more equipment, along with benches, which were what he was planning on working out on.

"Here. This look easy enough," Kairi suggested, gesturing to a huge and complicated piece of machinery. She wasn't even paying attention, Sora noticed. She was too busy scanning the group of men while un-tangling her red hair.

"Kairi," Sora whined, rolling his blue eyes as he leaned against the wall behind him. His arms, sulking like the thirteen-year-old he looked like.

"I'm just trying to find you a beefy guy," Kairi smiled at her friend and shot him a wink. When Sora grimaced, she quickly added, "Don't worry. Beefy as in angus filet, not a gross, greasy burger."

"Kairi, I'm a vegetarian."

"Sora—" she stopped abruptly from what would be a cruel threat and stared off in another direction, mouth agape. "Nevermind, I just found you're next boyfriend over there."

In this pack of nubs? He highly doubted it. "Where? Oh no, it's not the leatherface over there, is it?" The scared brunette asked, referring to the brown, shiny leather man in the yellow speedo lifting weights.

"Ew, no! It's the silver-haired guy over there. If he's not gay, you better bring him my way," she giggled, adjusting her bikini top so her boobs appeared bigger than the b-cup they were.

"I dunno," Sora said with a squint. He spotted the boy, a pale-skinned, silver-haired beefcake in the making. His muscles—though normal-sized—rippled as he worked out. Sora couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. He had to admit that Kairi had done well. He was cute, and had normal looking non-leathery skin. Those were Sora's only criteria anyway. "Alright, now how do I get him to talk to me?"

"Well..." Kairi began, tapping her lip with her fingers, "First you should take your shirt off. Guys don't wear shirts when they work out. Then work out on this bench," she pointed to a work out bench closer to the silver-haired guy, "He'll notice you, all tan and stuff, and if you play your cards right, he'll be yours in no time."

Sora wasn't so keen on this plan of hers, but he figured it was better than nothing, "I guess..." Sora said in defeat before awkwardly taking his shirt off. He sure felt tiny here, and he felt pretty small in a lot of social situations. Why would that guy ever notice him? He looked down at himself, seeing a flat, but pudgy stomach, and tiny pectorals. Why did he ever agree to let Kairi drag him down here.

He walked over to the bench and straddled it, legs on both sides, as he looked at the weight he was expected to bench. The weights on either side were pretty hefty, and Sora just hoped it didn't fall in the middle of a lift and possibly choke him to death. He could see the headlines now. 'Boy, looking to be the age of 15, dies at beach while attempting to lift a weight the size of his own body.'

"You sure this is a good idea?" Sora questioned while laying down. He stared at the weight above him, and swallowed the thick lump in his throat.

"Yeah, you'll be fine. I'll spot you," Kairi smiled and stood above him, her hands planting themselves firmly on the metal bar.

But right as Sora was about to attempt to lift the bar, he heard an unfamiliar male voice call Kairi's name. Too distracted now to help him lift this thing up, he let his arms fall back to his sides, and watched as a tall, tan blond waved at his friend.

"Tidus!" She shouted in excitement before running over to him and giving him a jump-hug. The ones where legs and arms are wrapped securely around the other's body like a koala hugging a tree.

Sora groaned to himself. He knew Tidus. Tidus was the water polo player from their high school. Now the groan wasn't because Sora disliked Tidus. On the contrary. Tidus had always been a good friend of Kairi's and an acquaintance of Sora's. What Sora was groaning about was the fact that he knew he had lost Kairi for the day, for Kairi had a huge crush on the guy. She'd find some way to weasel her way into whatever he was doing.

"Wow, it's been a while. Hi Wakka," Kairi greeted, doing that little hair thing she did when she talked to him. "What are you guys doing here?'"

"We were just going to play some volleyball, but Wakka saw you and I had to come say hi." That's when Sora noticed the volleyball in Wakka's hand. "What about you?"

"I'm just hanging around while Sora works out."

"Oh, hey Sora," Tidus said with a smile. Sora responded with a weak wave. It was only a matter of time now. In three, two, one-"Did you guys wanna come play with us?"

Great.

"I'm alright," Sora said. He wasn't in the mood to play volleyball, but if Kairi agreed—which he knew she would—he'd be able to go to the beach and buy a couple of souvenirs at least. A few minutes of working out, then he was out of here. "You go ahead Kairi," he encouraged, the idea of buying himself a Venice muscle shirt far more enticing than letting Kairi play matchmaker for him.

"You sure?" Kairi turned to him, smiling sweetly and excitedly when Sora nodded. "Alright then, call me when you're done working out?" The brunette nodded and watched as the three left. Well, at least Kairi was going to make some kind of love connection today. Sora's chances of meeting the beach boy of his dreams were slim to none, but he guessed he was alright with that.

Turning his attention back to the metal bar above him, he rubbed his hands together and let out a deep breath. Alright, five minutes of benches, and then he could say he at least attempted to work out. As long as he didn't hurt himself, what was the harm in doing what he came here to do? Maybe he wasn't going to get ripped, but he was going to attempt until his arms were at least a little sore. No pain no gain right?

With that, he held onto the bar with shaky hands, and got as ready as he was going to be to lift the bar that probably weighed two of Kairi.

"Hey,"

He stopped, looking up to notice a silhouette of someone standing above him, blocking out the sun that was peering in through the opening at the top of the work out room. With a quirked brow, he squinted his eyes for a better look, and noticed the shimmer of long silver hair.

"H-Hi," Sora stammered, realizing he was talking to the very guy Kairi and him were previously gawking over. Oh man, had he heard them? Sora didn't see any headphones in his ear, and Kairi's girly voice did carry. Was he going to try and kick his ass for planning to seduce him? Sora didn't want to see the power those muscley arms packed.

"Need a spotter?" Silver asked innocently, bending towards him and laying his hands on the bar. "It's not a good idea to bench something this big without a spotter."

A spotter. He was asking if Sora needed a spotter. The idea of one was definitely a good idea, but on the flip side, letting Silver watch him struggle to lift this would be kind of embarrassing.

"Sure," he agreed and Silver nodded his head, and helped him lift the bar off of its anchor it was settled in.

Sora smiled to tell Silver he was ready and as soon as the other boy's hands left the weight, Sora felt his arms turn to noddles. It wasn't as heavy as he had assumed, but it was still much heavier than Sora could comfortably lift. With a huge breath, Sora attempted as hard as he could to raise the dumbbell above his head. His face was probably turning red, and his arms were shaky as he slowly attempted one rep. Just one rep, and maybe Silver wouldn't leave him to wallow in his embarrassment. But who was Sora kidding? He couldn't lift this.

"U-Umm..."

"Here," Silver chuckled and grabbed the bar, helping Sora's shaky hands place it back. With a huge sigh of relief, Sora sat up and rubbed the back of his head with a meek grin. "Too heavy? Don't worry, that one's kind of hard for me too." He tried, but all Sora heard was the sound of the other boy's nose growing like Pinocchio.

"Heh, yah. Maybe I should have tried on something a little easier. Like a truck."

Silver laughed, and Sora decided he had a pretty nice laugh. And it barely even sounded condescending. "Yeah, maybe. I could help you with something else though. I'm a personal trainer."

"Aren't personal trainers supposed to look like that?" Sora asked as he nodded in the general direction of three men flexing their muscles and yelling in a fit of steroid-induced rage.

Another laugh. "Well...I like to pride myself on being a personal trainer that encourages health, instead of drug-use."

"So you're a hugs, not drugs type of guy?" Sora asked with a grin before standing up from the bench and stretching his weak-feeling arms.

"Exactly. So want me to help you work out for a little bit. Free of charge for you," he winked and Sora wondered if the heat rushing to his cheeks was him blushing or the beginning of a sunburn coming on.

"Let's do it. But don't laugh if I pass out from exhaustion after two jumping jacks," Sora laughed before wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. "I don't get why I decided to come work out at the beach."

"Well that's why I'm here. To make sure you don't fall and bust your head on one of these guys' arms. Besides, the beach offers the best way to cool off. Tell you what, work out for thirty minutes then I'll let you go take a dip in the ocean. Deal?" he asked, holding his hand out to Sora, who took it with no hesitation.

"Deal."

* * *

Roxas was finding this beach to be one of his favorite spots he had ever been to in California. Ever since moving here—a year ago was it?-his friends Hayner and Pence had always told him how "rad" this place was. Of course, his bros' hadn't been able to make it today because of family stuff or whatever, but Roxas found it fine kicking back by himself. It was just him and his skateboard, and that was about all he needed. No friends, no pot, and most definitely no strange homeless guys trying to harass him for a quick buck.

That guy's name was easy to remember, and quick on his tongue. Axel. Roxas usually had a bad memory when it came to name's, but Roxas usually like to play little similarity games in his head to remember. Axel sounded like Ax. Ax's were red, alike Axel's hair. Easy. Then again, that man was one of the most eccentric he had met, and maybe that was the reason Roxas had such an easy time remembering his name.

Roxas had been walking around the beach, passing along the stores, and stepping on the wood-ground of the boardwalk for about two hours now, and still no sight of Axel. Roxas wasn't particularly looking for the guy, but he had imagined to see a flash of porcupine spikes and the smell of stale cigarettes to waft in the air sometime again today. But, then again if Roxas didn't see him today, it'd be no skin off his nose. Not like he really cared or anything. It just would have been-

"Hey, hey, get off me! Damn!"

"Looks like you've been causing quite some trouble out here."

"That's BS, guy! This fuck was starting up with me!"

His thoughts were cut off by the loud obnoxious voice within ear shot. His interest now piqued, he listened atop his skateboard, that was now heading in the general direction of the person who was creating quite the conniption. He didn't need to go far for him to spot the source of all the yelling. He hopped off his skateboard, pulled up his aviators, and couldn't even be surprised when he saw a cop car parked right on the busy walkway, right in front of the stores, right next to that Axel guy from earlier.

He _knew _he would have had to run into him eventually, but damn, Roxas wasn't expecting to find him yelling at the cops. Axel looked frazzled, with his eyes narrowed to dangerous proportions, and his hands balled into fists at his sides. Roxas sure hoped he didn't think of hitting the cop. That would be completely stupid, and he didn't really want to have to see the guy getting walked off in handcuffs.

"—What do you mean causing a riot? This is fucking ridiculous."

"You know, it might be in your best interest to stop swearing at us," the tall cop said as he scratched his mustached-upper lip. Did that cop have an accent? A very posh accent for this type of area.

"Or what? You can't send me to jail for cussing! Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, balls!"

"No, I can't. But I _can _take you to jail for disturbing the peace!"

This wasn't looking too good, and before Roxas could think, everything seemed to be happening in slow-motion. The cop reaching for his handcuffs in his back pocket, Axel's eyes holding a small glimpse of worry, and Roxas dragging himself and his skateboard over to the messy scene, and standing between the two men hoping to diffuse the situation like a cold wave on a hot fire.

"That won't be necessary," Roxas found himself saying as everything came back to normal speed. The cop was raising one fine brow, and Axel was grabbing Roxas' shoulder and shaking it to get his attention. People around him were staring at Roxas like he was crazy to help some kind of low-life like Axel out, and from inside the car, Roxas could see another cop caught mid-bite to check out the blond kid who thought he had a pair of balls.

"Yeah, listen to him," Axel said with a smug smirk crawling across his triangular-face. "That _won't _be necessary."

"And, why is that?" The cop asked as he leaned forward, fist touching his cocked hip, and beside Roxas, Axel prodded him with a bony finger into his shoulder blade and asked,

"Yeah, why is that?"

And there went Roxas' brilliant plan in all of five seconds. Roxas hadn't exactly thought this whole thing through. And a million different excuses were swarming around in his head. Roxas hadn't the best idea of what to say to a cop. Despite being a bit of a party-goer, Roxas had never had to dealt with cops before. He was, an overall, good kid, and staring into the reflective aviators this guy was wearing was intimidating. Roxas could see himself in his glasses; he could practically see the sweat dripping from his forehead as he struggled for some sort of words to escape his parched mouth.

"Because...because...he's my cousin. Right, Axel," Roxas said with a nervous chuckle as he lightly tapped Axel's shoulder with his fist in a show of "cousin-ly" affection. Axel nodded his head, ready to go along with whatever plan the blond was concocting, and in turn, punched Roxas' arm back with a lot more force than was necessary. Ouch, that had to hurt.

"Right, Ronald," Axel said with a not-so-smooth wink in Roxas' direction. Luckily, it didn't look like Mr. Mustache saw the wink, but the blond was more focused on the fact that Axel didn't even remember his name. Did Roxas even look like a Ronald?

"Yeah, sorry officer. Me and him came with my parents, and Axel wondered off," Roxas leaned in close, cupping the side of his mouth, and whispering, "He's got A.D.D."

The cop looked suspicious, as he glanced over to Axel. With his ratty clothes, messy hair, and scruffy chin, how could this cop actually believe this guy was Roxas' cousin, and not some sort of beach rat. But the blond quickly tried to pull on the type of face that could easily fool his mother when he went out on rendezvous with his friends late at night. Although this cop probably had a trained eye, unlike his mom, and probably wouldn't believe a word he sa-

"You know, I don't find that hard to believe." The cop said with a cross of his hairy arms and a nod of his head. He adjusted his aviator glasses, and turned to look at Axel, who was biting his lower lip to bite back an idiotic smile. "I would suggest you go get some Adderall, son. Prescribed it to my boy. Works wonders. Maybe it'll stop you from being so damn rowdy." He turned back towards me and tilted his cop hat at me with a crooked smile playing on his lips. "Both of you keep out of trouble now."

The man with the uniform (were those shorts he was wearing?) hopped back into the car with his partner, and carefully drove away with a small 'boop-boop' of their car alarm. The little red and blue lights flashed.

"You...you bailed me out," Axel said, sounding to be in a bit of shock. He turned to Roxas, his lips spread into an all out grin, from ear to ear, that made his eyes look tiny, and his tattoos look rather prominent on his high cheekbones. "You know, that's really something kid." He wiped at his nose with the back of his tartan shirt, and wrapped that same arm around Roxas' shoulders. Needless to say, the shorter boy grimaced in response. "Usually only Xion does that for me, Ronald."

"Usually?" Roxas asked as he pried the other man's arm carefully off him. "This happens a lot?" He didn't know why he was even surprised. This guy looked like trouble. His little cardboard sign should have read 'Hi, my name is Axel. And I'm trouble. I get girls pregnant and shout out obscenities for the fun of it.' Or something to that affect. "And my name's Roxas." He said with a glare.

"Oh shit, my bad, dude. And hell yeah. The PoPo is always on me and my crew's tail. That cop's new, never seen him before. But none of them like our way of life. They don't like how we don't have corporate jobs. But whatever, man." He snorted and proceeded to spit on the ground, reiterating his distaste for cops.

"Yeah, well, then I thought you were seriously about to get into trouble," Roxas said with a roll of his eyes. He hopped back onto his skateboard, ready to get as far away from this guy as possible. First, he weaseled a dollar bill out of him, and now Axel wasted his time and energy. "I'm out of here."

"Come on, don't be that way. I probably would have gotten into trouble," Axel tried as he reached for Roxas' shoulder. His hand was fairly large, and tugged at Roxas' frail shoulder gently. Who knew this guy could be so gentle in his touch when he wanted to be when he was so rough around the edges. Pointy and sharp and dangerous it seemed in every other aspect. "if it weren't for you. They woulda thrown me in the brig." He snickered, and Roxas glanced back at him with pointed eyes, and a softening lip. Eyes set in a glare, lips threatening to smile.

"Oh yeah, Captain Jack Asshole?" Roxas said with a cruel snicker as he whipped around on his skateboard, and stood nose-to-nose with the taller man.

"I like your style, kid," Axel said with a cocky grin, unfazed by the nickname, but instead he seemed to have found it endearing. Was that how you made friends around here? By calling each other mean names and mocking each other? Roxas wouldn't have been surprised. And even though Roxas had nice, kept blond hair, clean tank tops and board shorts, and expensive watches on his wrists, he knew how to keep up with foul-mouthed reckless guys like Axel. That was how it was in his group of guys he hung out with. Look clean, keep up appearances to mom and dad, do well in private school, and party hard on the weekends.

"Roxas," he repeated, eyes challenging Axel as they remained there eye-to-eye...that is until Roxas suddenly found himself eye-to-eye with the hard, unforgiving pavement.

It seemed Axel had kicked the back of Roxas' board, stomped down rather, knocking the other boy off the unsteady board and onto the floor. Axel clutched his stomach, mouth bursting with a cackling and howling laughter that fit the man too perfectly.

"You dick! I think you broke my nose!" Roxas shouted as he stood up quickly, dusting off his jeans, and clutching at his nose. His nose felt fine, all bones in place, and the only issue was a throbbing sensation in the bridge. He let his tongue run over his teeth, happy to say that all were in tact. Still, that hurt, and what was worse was how embarrassing it was!

"Sorry, bro." Axel said in between his fit of roaring laughter.

"Not okay, _bro,_" Roxas mocked, eyes still narrowed slits. "You coulda busted my face open!"

"Not like an aspiring skateboarder hasn't done that enough right?" Axel retorted, and Roxas couldn't argue with that logic as much as he could stop the harsh waves of pain in his face. "Sorry, sorry. Here I know a good remedy for any type of pain." He reached up and pulled a fat joint from behind his ear. Roxas hadn't seen it before, but that was probably because this man's hair was a wild mess that could probably hide an assortment of things. Stereos, bags full of weed, cans of beer maybe.

"Yeah?" Roxas asked, quirked brow, interest piqued. When in Rome right? He was at a beach, and not just any beach, but Venice beach. Axel nodded, taking out his trusty white lighter and placing the joint between his lips. "Right here in the open?" Roxas asked, shocked. Axel chuckled and lit the joint, puffing it, and the tip of the paper began to glow red, puffs of smoke filling the air.

"It's Venice, Roxas. People sell medical marijuana cards here. It's cool," Axel took a deep puff of his joint and handed it over to Roxas, who eyed it warily.

"This isn't laced or anything, is it?" Like PCP or some shit. Now that would be terrifying. Roxas didn't want to mess with shit like that, but who knew about this Axel guy.

"Trust me, dude, it's not," Axel said with a bit of a cough, and for some reason Roxas trusted him. He took a hit of the joint, and didn't look back.

"See you on the other side."

* * *

Sora hadn't had heatstroke before, but now was probably as close to it as he had ever come. Silver, whose real name was actually Riku, was serious about this personal trainer business. Thirty minutes of vigorous work out had felt like an hour under the baking heat of the sun.

Sora didn't even sweat that much, but right now, he was drenched in the stuff. His t-shirt was stuck to his chest and underarms so much that he'd probably have to rip it off later, and his thighs were rubbing together and starting to chafe. But Sora could _feel _ his muscles burning, his muscles screaming. That workout had to be working a little bit. And even though one day of working out wouldn't do much for Sora, this work out was so intense it had to help somewhat.

"R-Riku..." Sora panted, as he wiped at the sweat on his brow. His bangs were practically matted to his forehead, and beside him, Riku was beaming as if he just won the lottery. He was obviously proud that he had worked Sora within an inch of his life, or maybe for the fact that Riku had out-benched him by so much. Either way, Sora felt miserable. And he looked it too. "Are we done yet? It's been an hour?" He asked, trying not to let his natural whine in his voice be present. Kairi always told him he sounded like a girl when he did that. But then wasn't she making fun of herself in the process?

"It's only been thirty minutes," Riku said as he glanced down at his watch. Sora glanced down at his own watch, and noticed it had been a lot more than thirty minutes since they began. An hour wasn't much of a stretch. "Alright, we're done," Riku said in defeat when Sora gave him a look, and Riku dropped the weight he bad been lifting prior.

"Ocean time?" Sora asked with a beaming smile, and he glanced over past the grass, past the sand, to the rippling waves of the ocean. It looked so inviting. Sora was starry-eyed over how refreshing a dip in the ocean would be. Sea creatures and slimy sea weed be damned. Sora wanted some of that sea water _now. _

"Yeah, let's go," Riku said before grabbing Sora's wrist and dragging him out of the testosterone-filled beach gym.

Sora was feeling giddy as Riku dragged him along the hot sand. He hadn't even needed Kairi's guy-getting advice to bag himself a hottie. And Sora was happy that Riku seemed to be enjoying his company. He laughed at Sora's jokes (though most of Riku's laughter had been at Sora's expense when the brunette struggled during their work out) and Riku even wanted to spend time with him afterwards. Maybe Sora wasn't as much of a lost cause as he thought.

As they walked through the beach, Sora couldn't help but notice the vast array of … colorful people that were here at the beach. Yeah, colorful, that was a word for it. Crazy hair, piercings and tattoos, homeless people from corner to corner,and marijuana dispensaries at every turn. Riku was one of the more normal looking people he had seen here. He looked like the typical beach boy with his long pale hair and his tank top that revealed his rippled arms. He was a bit pale, Sora had to admit, for a beach goer, but maybe Sora was just overly tan.

He had found out quite a few things about Riku while they had been working out. For one, Riku lived in Santa Monica and frequented Venice and Santa Monica pier whenever he had the free time to work out alone, or to enjoy the carnival rides at the pier with his friends. Riku had even offered that Sora and he visit it later today, and if not, another day. His favorite food was spaghetti, but he watched his diet and only ate that on special occasions. Riku lived with his roommate, Cloud, and went to a great university. He was also about four years older than Sora, age 23, and was surprisingly, single.

Overall, he sounded like a great catch to Sora, but he wasn't trying to get ahead of himself. Admittedly, he was a bit of a romantic, and was embarrassed that he was actually imagining scenes in his head of Riku riding the Ferris wheel on Santa Monica pier, with Riku's arm slung around his shoulders. Hey, it was okay to imagine right?

"That guy's always here," Riku commented as he gestured towards a man wearing plaid with crazy dreaded, spiky hair that was the same shade as a fire truck. The red ones. "Look at his hair," he said, and Sora nodded with widened eyes.

"It's pretty wild."

"I've never seen that kid before," Riku said as his eyes shifted towards the blond boy next to him, who was clutching his stomach and giggling hysterically. "Hey," Riku said and glanced back at Sora, then over to Roxas. "That guy kind of looks like you."

With a quirked brow, he squinted his eyes and examined the boy, before looking to Riku and shaking his head. "Nah, not really."

Riku laughed with a pointed figure aimed at the sputtering brunette. "That wave just pulverized you," he said in between fits of laughter.

Sora glared at Riku, his spiky hair fallen into his eyes and making him resemble a wet, angry dog. "That water is so salty," he said with a grimace as he stuck his tongue out. "It burns my eyes!"

"It is beach water. All the semen you know?" Riku said with another burst of laughter as Sora's eyes widened.

"That's disgusting! I don't want fish semen in my mouth," he whined as he sputtered out as much of the semen-water as he could. The stuff was everywhere though. In his hair, seeped into his board shorts, in his mouth.

"Hey, come on, I'm only kidding. Don't tell me you've never swam in the ocean before."

"Yeah, I have!" Sora shouted back as he splashed the water lightly in Riku's direction. The other man stepped away from the water, trying to guard his hair with his arm. "Besides, I'm farther in the water than you are." Sora stuck out his tongue, walking over to Riku, who had barely stepped into the water farther than a few steps, and grabbing onto his arm to drag him in.

"What are you doing, Sora?" Riku asked, and if Sora didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw a panicked look strike his face. But why would Riku be scared of the ocean? Riku came here all the time right? So obviously he must have been in the water more times than Sora could count on both of his hands. "Stop, really, I'm fine." Riku said with a rapid shake of his head, wisps of his pale hair hitting his cheekbones with the ferocity his head was shaking from side to side.

"What's the matter? It's only a little water," Sora said with a chuckle as he pulled Riku in with a big heave-ho and strength he hadn't even known he possessed. Riku nearly went tumbling into the water, nearly plummeting face first into a salty, water. "Sorry, guess I don't know my own strength," Sora said with a chuckle as he flexed his muscle, and failed to notice the completely murderous look on Riku's face.

"Yeah, maybe I worked you out a little too hard," He said with a scowl as he stared at the water with a hesitant look on his face. "I'm ready to get out, are you?" he asked as he began to trod backwards in the water that splashed roughly against his legs, nearly knocking him off balance with each push of the waves.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, more concerned now when he noticed that Riku actually looked pretty panicked. Riku had been fine when it came to standing at the shoreline where the water barely splashed his ankles. Here though, they were standing where to water splashed against their knees, and the force could have easily knocked them over.

"Nothing," Riku said a little too quickly, and a sly smile crept along Sora's face.

"Then come here," the brunette said as he reached forward and let his fingers curl with Riku's fingers. The older boy looked worried, but he didn't fight Sora who led him further and further into the threatening ocean.

"Isn't your friend looking for you?" Riku asked, hoping to distract Sora from dragging him further into what could be his watery grave. But Sora squeezed his hand in reassurance, and continued into the water until they were up to their navels in ocean.

"She'll be fine. Right here is good," Sora said as he eyed a wave beginning to form in the distance.

"I don't know," Riku said slowly. Maybe Sora had found Riku's kryptonite. It was kind of endearing, and definitely funny.

"Look, the wave's coming. When it's about to hit us, just jump against it, then it won't push you back, okay?" Sora asked as he smiled confidently at the other.

Though Riku still looked unsure, he nodded and took in a deep breath as the wave quickly came towards them. He jumped alongside Sora as they held hands, and Sora laughed when Riku broke out into the tiniest of smiles.

"That wasn't so bad," he said, the confident look making it's way back onto his face.

"Now let's go a little farther," Sora suggested. Sora had to stand on his tip toes to be able to touch the ground, but Riku was fine as he did stand taller than Sora. "Alright, now we're going to dive under the wave."

"Uh, dive under it?" Riku asked, eyes wide in shock as he looked to Sora, and quickly tried to mask the fear in his eyes. "I think I'm okay. I don't really want to get my hair wet." He said, running his hands over his hair to smooth it down.

"Ready?" Sora asked, ignoring the other boy, and the angry wave headed towards them at faster speeds than Riku liked. But he trusted Sora, and Sora must have known what he was doing. With a deep breath, the two boys dove under the wave together until the wave safely passed them. They both reached the surface, and Sora quickly pushed his hair back out of his face.

"I can't touch the floor anymore," Riku said as he struggled to stay floating in the water, and Sora could see that the older boy was beginning to panic, something that he was told to never do when learning to swim. Was Riku just nervous about the ocean, or did he actually not know how to swim?

"Riku?" Sora asked as he saw the next wave coming. "Just dive under this wave okay?" He told Riku, who nodded, but seemed to be struggling as he tilted his neck back, trying to keep his face above water as much as possible. Sora kept an eye on Riku, but instead of diving underneath the wave, he panicked and let the water splash him roughly in the face. Riku sputtered and choked, leading him to panic even more, and Sora knew he had to intervene. It didn't look like Riku knew how to swim.

"S-Sora!" Riku said in a panicked and flustered yell as he reached his hand out towards Sora, the waves pushing him around like a rag doll, and water roughly splashing his face. Sora quickly curled his arm around the other's waist, and let Riku wrap his arm around his shoulders to help him stay afloat.

"Don't worry, I got you," Sora said, smiling brightly at the other. Riku could barely look Sora in the face and he pushed back his hair out of his eyes that were staring suspiciously at the water. They bumped around in the moving water, and Sora began to swim him and Riku safely to shore. The waves helped to push them forward and soon enough they were at the shore.

"I guess you found out my secret," Riku murmured after a few seconds of awkward silence. Sora glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I don't know how to swim."

"It's okay," Sora flashed him a broad grin and he could see the way Riku visibly relaxed once they were able to walk on the damp sand of the shore. "You did pretty good out there for not knowing how to swim."

"No, I nearly drowned myself," Riku said as he let out a sigh of frustration.

"Well, if you don't know how to swim, why did you suggest we go out to the ocean?"

Riku shrugged his shoulders and looked away shamefully. "I don't know," he said as he began to walk along the shore, his elbow locked around Sora's. "I didn't know you'd want to go all the way into the wave I guess. And if you wanted to, I didn't think I'd-"

"Panic?" Sora filled in for him. "Don't worry about it. I was beginning to think you were like some perfect being or something. Nice to know you have your own set of fears."

With a chuckle, Riku asked, "Perfect?" and shook his head. "Hardly. Behind these chiseled abs is a mountain of flaws."

"A mountain huh?" Sora asked, still grinning. He doubted Riku had a whole entire mountain of flaws. Maybe a little hill. But his flaws weren't anything physical, Sora knew that for sure. Not like Sora's wild hair, and his crooked teeth and big feet. "If you got a mountain, I don't know what I have," he said, and to illustrate his point, he pointed at his front teeth, who Sora had always thought were reminiscent of a rabbit or gopher.

"I hardly think that's a flaw," Riku smiled and tugged Sora towards a group of rocks along the shore. "Let's go sit on those rocks. Way above the ocean. I'll be safe."

"Let's go," Sora said as the two began on a steady jog towards the rocks, where the waves steadily crashed.

Upon reaching the rocks, Sora glanced at the small wave pools at the base. Sora remembered going to wave pools with his parents when he was little. He'd always been excited when he'd find little fish and crabs swimming in the water and resting under rocks. Sora had always been a fan of aquariums as well. His favorite animal was a lionfish.

Too bad there weren't likely to be any starfish, he thought as he peered into the shallow water, but if Sora didn't know any better, there looked to be the claw of a big crab hiding in the corner.

"Look," Sora said as he pointed to it to show Riku.

"A crab," Riku noted with a grin before heading over to step on the flat rocks. The rocks were laid out like stairs almost that they had to climb to reach the taller rocks that they could sit on, high above the waves. Though Sora did note that as the day grew longer, the waves crashed higher against the rocks, spraying the water onto the top of the rocks. Surely if they sat on top, they were bound to get wet, and the sun beating down on them had already dried Sora off partially.

Plus, the rocks looked wet and slimy, and Sora saw muscles or barnacles stuck all along the rocks. Knowing how clumsy he was, he would probably end up slipping and falling. And if he were able to reach the top, there was a chance he'd tumble over and fall in.

"Are you sure?" Sora asked as he watched Riku carefully maneuver his way towards the higher rocks. Sora hopped over the tide pools to step on one of the rocks.

"Yeah, I may not be a fan of the ocean, but I climb these all the time," Riku said with confidence as he reached over to grab Sora's hand. "Come on, I'll help."

If Riku could be brave enough to face his fear of the ocean, then Sora could be brave enough to climb to the top of the rocks. He grabbed the other's hand with a shaky smile, and carefully went from rock to rock, one step at a time.

The jagged, slippery stone made it a bit of a struggle to get to the top, but Sora found it easier when Riku was guiding him. Riku walked along a path that would be easier for Sora, which he appreciated. Eventually, Riku stood atop the tallest rock, the end of their venture, and leaned down to help Sora.

Sora grimaced, feeling the slimy surface under his palm, but with one more heave, he stood beside Riku at the top, and smiled down at the bottom with confidence.

"That wasn't that bad," Sora said as he grinned at Riku.

"Yeah, at least I got some dignity back. You helped me with the waves, I helped you with the rocks." Riku sat down and let his legs dangle over the edge, and patted a spot beside him for Sora to sit. Sora happily obliged, and looked down as the waves crashed against their sandal-ed feet. Geez, one wrong step and the two would go tumbling down. Not Sora's idea of a good time.

But as of right now, today was going perfectly. The sun was just starting to set, and once blue sky was fading into orange and red. Sora could hear the waves crashing, the seagulls flying in the sky off in the distance, and he closed his eyes and let the ocean mist spray against his face. He never expected to have such a good time with someone he had just met, and he was almost a little thankful that Kairi had went to hang out with Tidus. He just hoped she was having as good of a time as he was.

"I meet a lot of people here," Riku began after a moment of silence. "I help them work out, or I have funny conversations with the local drunkards around here." He laughed at the thought. "I've meet a lot of crazy people here at Venice, but no one that reminds me of my friends back home. Except you," he said as he smiled fondly towards Sora.

Sora looked over and smiled back, and felt a heat pour over his cheeks. He wasn't sure if he was blushing, or if that was just a sunburn coming on, but he could assume it was a little bit of both. "Really? How so?" He asked as he laced his fingers behind his head comfortably.

"I don't know," Riku said with a shrug. "You're fun and laid back. You're funny. You're just really easy to get along with." He grinned and leaned back on his arms against the rock.

"Yeah, I guess I wasn't expecting to meet anyone cool here," Sora admitted. "Especially when I saw all those meat heads at muscle beach. I've never seen so many of those guys in one place!"

"Aww, you think I'm cool," Riku said with a grin as he nudged Sora playfully.

"You said it first," Sora said with a laugh, his cheeks growing hotter. That was definitely a sunburn coming on.

"Yeah," Riku admitted. "I like you. You're a cool person."

"You're a cool person too," Sora said with an awkward toothy grin. Wow, he was cool? He hadn't heard someone beside Kairi call him that in a while, but he assumed she just told him that because she was his friend. She had to. Just like he had to tell her her butt didn't look big in those pink pants of her.

As Sora watched the sunset and glanced over at Riku, he couldn't help but feel like he was in a movie. The romantic movies Kairi liked so much. The setting was a beach at sunset, and the main character had just found the guy of her dreams. All that was missing...was a kiss.

But he knew the setting of the sun meant this perfect day was coming to an end. Maybe today didn't have to end though? Maybe they could hang out some more?

"Uhm...do you think..." he started slow and shy, trying to find the right words that wouldn't make him sound silly. "Do you think you'd want to hang out more this summer?"

Riku nodded with a smile. "I'd like that."

Sora grinned, relieved, and as he glanced over at Riku, he saw that the other's hand was in reach of Sora's. He took a deep breath and reached his hand over to rest on top of Riku's. Riku responded with a smile, and Sora wondered if it would be totally out of the question to just go in for a kiss. Everything else had worked out so far today. It had been a great day and what better way to end it then with a kiss?

He leaned over towards Riku, glancing down shyly at the floor before back up at Riku, who seemed to get the hint. Riku leaned in towards Sora as well, and before Sora could chicken out, the brunette closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against Riku's.

The kiss was sweet, innocent, and he felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest, more like fluttering really. His fingers curled around Riku's, and the other deepened the kiss. Sora smiled against his lips, and he knew this was the perfect way to end an awesome day. He didn't think anything could ruin it.

Anything, that is, except a high wave crashing against the rock, and managing to reach the two kissing teens, leaving them soaked.

"Shit!" Riku cursed as they pulled away in shock.

Dammit, Sora thought to himself as he glared over at the ocean. It sure did have horrible timing, and Sora could taste the salty fish semen against his mouth. "Great," Sora muttered as he glanced down at his dripping wet clothes.

But as they looked each other, clothes soaked and hair matted to their face, the two burst into laughter and moved in to share another wet, salty kiss under the setting sun.

* * *

"No way dude! I don't believe that."

"No, I swear. Everything looked like an oil painting," Axel insisted as he laid back on the hot sand, his arms crossed behind his head. He had been indulging Roxas with a tale of his most intense high. "It was fucking beautiful."

Roxas was having a hard time believing what Axel said about the mountains in the background looking like a cardboard backdrop of a movie, and the flowers and trees looking just like an oil painting. That didn't sound like the weed trips he knew, especially not the one he was experiencing right now, that sounded more like...

"Are you sure you didn't take some acid or something?"

Axel chuckled. "Nah, I know when I do acid. That was just some good shit, man. But I had massive headache when I came down. And I had the munchies like no one's business. I was still full the next day."

"Wow," Roxas breathed as he played with the sand and let it fall between his fingers. It glided so easily. It felt like silk or something. Roxas wondered how sand was able to do that when it was just grains of rock. Fine grains. Like, really fine. "That sounds pretty cool," Roxas mused as he turned his attention back to Axel, who was staring up at the sky underneath his dark circle glasses.

The two shared a comfortable silence as they listened to the different sounds of the beach, like the seagulls in the sky and the waves crashing against rocks, plus all of the laughing children. Everything sounded better while they were high. It was like they had the eardrums of a dog, or at least that's how it felt.

"So..." Axel was the first to break the silence as he moved onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow to look at Roxas. "Have you taken my advice? Smile at any lemons yet?"

"Yeah, there was this one lemon I smiled at. But he didn't smile back. The prick."

The two wild-haired boys stared at each other before bursting out in hysterical giggles induced by the weed in their system. Apparently Axel had never heard of anything funnier than ass-hole lemons, and Roxas had never told a funnier story.

Roxas wasn't sure if this was the weed talking, but he felt compelled to confide in the red-head. That wasn't something he was used to doing very much. Not with his friends back home anyway, save for maybe Olette. "I didn't think I'd come to Venice and up getting high with a pretty cool dude."

"Yeah," Axel said with a cocky grin. If there was anything the red-head was, it was cocky. "You meet some chill dudes out here," he finished, but as he turned to Roxas, he offered him a smile as warm as the sand behind them. Wow, Roxas didn't know he could be so poetic, but it was probably just the weed. Roxas wanted to go do something artistic all of a sudden. Though his drawings were all stick figure-y.

"Yeah, when I first saw you I kinda thought you were weird. I mean...can you really blame me? You gotta big tattoo on your chest and crazy hair, and you were begging me for money," Roxas laughed, and muttered to himself under his breath, "Not exactly the people I hang out with back at home."

"Is it 'cuz I'm not wearing a polo? Oh shit, my bad, I took it to the cleaners today," he quipped with one of his loud laughs that Roxas had found himself growing used to. To think that just a few hours prior, Roxas had nearly wiped himself clean of anything that had to do with the guy.

"My friends don't wear polos," Roxas said as his brows knitted together, obviously offended with the accusation. But as he thought about his friends, he realized Axel was right. "Pence wears polos," he admitted under his breath, and he felt like digging his head into the sand. Was he really that easy to read?

"Nah, you just can't tell 'cuz the rest wear theirs underneath all their clothes."

"Is that what you think about me?" The blond asked through his snickers he couldn't quite keep contained. "I'm friends with a bunch of polo-wearing snobs?" Sure his friends were rich, and yes, Pence was guilty of wearing a polo, but they weren't snobs. Would Roxas have been caught talking to Axel if he were a snob? No way.

"Nah. I'm not one to judge. I could care less who you hang out with. Snobs, junkies, pot heads, surfers, I met 'em all," Axel said as he counted each of the social cliques on his fingers. Roxas had never met any junkies, but his friend, Seifer, surfed.

"You're judging me," Roxas said as he sat up from the hot sand, and raked his fingers through his hair to shake out the grit that was still clinging to it.

"I'm just joking. I don't judge. Really. Listen, I got some advice for you, only this time it's going to be free."

"Lucky me," Roxas dead-panned as he glanced over red-eyed. Luckily for him, he was too baked to realize the sun was currently baking him. He wouldn't notice the nasty sunburn make it's way to his shoulder until it was too late. Maybe that wasn't very lucky after all.

"Nah, I'm serious though Rox. Can I call you Rox?" He asked, but continued before 'Rox' could even get a word in edgewise. He hated that nickname, but he guessed it wasn't too bad coming from Axel. "Rox, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I see it all the time. People judge me right away 'cuz of my rad chest piece. They think I'm out begging for money for my next fix. But that's not what I'm about."

"Then what are you about? I don't know anything about you 'cept that you have some weird lemon fetish and the cops have you on speed dial," he said, snickering when Axel reached over to cup the other's mouth closed with his hand.

"Just listen for a sec. Damn, you prep boys are sassy." Axel let his hand fall from Roxas' mouth, who breathed a sigh of relief. Axel's hands smelled like cigarettes and joint. "What if I told you I'm just like you Rox? 'Cept I like tattoos and enjoy living life like it's my last day. It's just my thing, you know? But I'm still a good boy just like you. I go to a private school. I live in a nice two-story house. Pool, pool table, granite counter tops. The whole shebang. And you wouldn't think by looking at me, but I'm a big drama geek. I love the theater," Axel said, adding on a English accent to the last word.

Roxas laughed, the image of Axel 'The Drama Geek' playing in his head. He could see it now: Axel with a rose in his mouth and a skull in his head as he said dramatically, "Oh Roxas, Roxas, where for out thou Roxas." And Roxas would be in the seats of the theater laughing it up just like he was doing now.

"Oh yeah, should I just start calling you Romeo, or what?"

"Laugh it up, blondie," Axel warned as he tweaked the younger boy in the nose with a smirk. "But remember that chick from earlier? Met her in drama class. We're pretty much top of the class. And we started this little experiment thing together, just for shits and giggles." At the mention of the experiment, his voice got more hushed, and Roxas leaned in closely, intent on listening. "We planned to go to the local thrift store and get some grungy clothes, and come out here, and put ourselves in the shoes of people who live here everyday, you know? To test our acting skills."

Axel looked over at Roxas expectantly, his eyebrows raised, and the red-eyes sandy blond couldn't say anything, but murmur a dazed, "What?"

Was this guy he met really just acting? Was he really a Santa Monica prep school student? He looked a bit old, Roxas thought as he let his blue eyes scan Axel from his shoes to his crazy hair. How'd they let him get away with that? And how would Axel look in a nice uniform? He'd look a hell of a lot different that was for damn sure. He'd probably lose some of his charm, if that was the word for what Axel had.

"Yeah, are you surprised, Rox? I guess I'm a better actor than I thought. If that was even possible."

"You sure do you look the part," Roxas said, mouth agape as he stared at the chest piece sticking out of the top of Axel's shirt. Was that even real?

"I do, don't I? I look good like this, huh?" Axel snickered as he sat up and leaned in close to the other boy, letting his shoulder bump against his in a display of affection. All Roxas could do was stare at the sand below them, trying to wrap his intoxicated mind around the situation.

"Really?...So...you're not a beach rat? This was all … an act? You didn't even need that dollar bill I gave you?"

Axel stared at Roxas and Roxas stared at Axel, and Axel was afraid the blond's brain was going to start smoking. The image itself was funny, but the situation was what caused the plaid-wearing red-head to start bursting into laughter that he couldn't quite contain even if he tried. Roxas looked even more confused than prior, if that were possible.

"Of course I'm a fucking beach bum! I live here dude!"

Oh yeah, there was definitely smoke rising from Roxas' ears. "I...what...?"

"You're too gullible kid! I could have told you my dad was a monkey and you would have believed it." No Roxas most certainly would have not...if he were sober. "I made all that shit up! Damn...maybe I really should get into acting," Axel thought to himself as he pressed a hand to his chin and smiled proudly. "I'm pretty damn good at it, huh?"

"…"

"What business did you think I had at a high school? I'm fucking 24," Axel said as he scratched at the red stubble forming at his chin.

"You're an asshole," Roxas said, but his insult wasn't so angry sounding when it was followed by a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, so I've heard. You know," Axel said as he draped his arm around Roxas' shoulders and held out his hand. "I think that brilliant story earns me another dollar."

"No way, Axel. Why lie anyway? What the hell was the point of that?"

"I don't know," Axel said as his hand dropped. "I'm just high, dude. Just thought I'd let you know you shouldn't judge people right off the bat. Here you were thinking I was a weirdo, and I turned out to be pretty cool right?" Axel asked, looking quite proud of himself.

"But, you are a big weirdo, what are you talking about? I was right."

"But you're here blazing it up with me, and you're laughing. Face it, I'm just the right amount of weird you need in your Beverly Hills 90210 life."

"But...you're sitting here judging me," Roxas retorted, not liking the nicknames Axel had set up for him. It was Roxas, just Roxas.

"Touche Dyrdek," Axel said with his fitting smirk, arm still linked around Roxas' shoulders, who didn't mind the contact. "Guess I shouldn't be doing that. My point is that you can't come to Venice with a judgmental attitude." There Axel went, going off on another preaching tangent. "People here might seem weird, but I've met the coolest fucking people out here. Like I didn't think I could befriend a blond prep boy like you, and look, I'm having the best fucking time.

Roxas couldn't help but smile as the lecture was ended with a compliment. He was having a great time too, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Axel pulled Roxas close, enough so that their sides were pressed together, and Roxas didn't struggle. "Come here, you little shit. You better come back and visit me. I want to see you make this beach your second home. You can meet all my friends, and I can show you all the hidden treasures around here. Deal?" Axel asked, smiling down at the blond, who nodded in agreement. He kind of liked the sound of that admittedly.

"As long as you promise not to slip any acid into my soda, deal," Roxas said with a laugh as he held out his hand. Axel shook his head, but grabbed Roxas' hand to seal the deal with a shake.

"Dick, I wouldn't waste my acid on you," Axel said as he pulled Roxas' arm to pull the blond against him. "Not until you've at least give me a kiss,"

"I'll pass," Roxas said with a shake of his head. "No acid for me thanks."

With a quirk of his brow, Axel smirked, giving the other a rather suggestive look. "How about a kiss then?"

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Roxas said. He had never imagined himself ever being in this position, seriously considering kissing a random change-begging guy he had med at the beach. But he guessed that was what Axel meant about not judging people. If he did, he wouldn't have the chance to meet awesome people like Axel. And so he took Axel's advice and went for it. He leaned up and pressed his lips to Axel's in a kiss that tasted like weed and stale cigarettes, but nice. Real nice.

The kiss was brief, but still really nice, and as they pulled away, Axel smiled. "Cool." He gave the blond one last kiss on the cheek before standing up and dusting the sand off the butt of his jeans. "Let's go, I'm going to show you the best fucking dessert you're taste buds have ever met. Fried Oreos."

Roxas followed suit, dusting himself off, and following Axel on the sand towards the side walk again. Axel linked his arm once again around Roxas' shoulders, and the blond didn't mind one bit. Dessert sounded nice. He was pretty hungry now that he thought about it.

"You're paying?"

"Hey, beach rat, remember?"

And that was how four complete strangers from different walks of life met and found love on the strange, eclectic beach that was Venice. Four cases of real summer lovin'.

-End-

A/N: I liked this. I'm pretty proud of it actually (: So I really hope you all enjoy it as well. Review please! I'd like to know what you all think of my first Axel/Roxas, Sora/Riku story. I believe there is going to be a chapter two eventually. This time centering on Xion and Namine and Demyx and Zexion. Don't hold your breath for the chapter anytime soon, but it's an idea I have and would like to write.


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